In Easter week I had the privilege of going on pilgrimage to Lindisfarne, a Holy Island off the north east coast of England, with a group of young people. It was a wonderful, deep, fun, prayerful experience.
It was a walking pilgrimage – 15miles per day through open countryside, so we had opportunity to enjoy the beauty around us. We lived simply, cooked and ate communally, shared our resources, waited for each other, laughed a lot, shared deeply. One pilgrim wrote:
“Prayer turns travel into a pilgrimage”. I’ve always been an avid hiker and lover of the outdoors, but this was my first time as a pilgrim. Unlike my other trips, the purpose of the pilgrimage was not to hike as far or as fast as possible, but to slow down, to enter a rhythm of prayer and walking, and to contemplate what God might be saying. To begin a day filled with uncertainties, but rather than trying to plan for every eventuality, to just let God be God.
At the encouragement of the Sisters, and inspired by Ignatian spirituality, I reflected on seeing God in all things. In the tiny green buds on the trees, yet to burst into life, waiting patiently and hopefully for spring to come. In the dark skies filled with tiny but somehow enormous stars that for me usually lie hidden behind murky London clouds and city lights. In the flickering light and glowing coals of the log fire as we prayed the examen together at the end of the day.
I found God in the people I walked alongside with too. The pilgrim who hiked for miles with soaking wet feet and never complained. The stranger who gave us hot tea and biscuits on our journey. The friend who took my hand and led me in song when the walk started to feel very cold and long. The Sisters who listened and shared with great compassion. The priest who watched in patient mock horror as his flock crammed more and more luggage into his tiny car. The look of wonder and surprise on a pilgrim’s face as he experienced the tide going out for the first time.
After a day of walking, wading through mud and climbing a hill that seemed to go on forever we got our first glimpse of our final destination, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The following day, we crossed the causeway onto the islands, walking the over the sands that had been walked by pilgrims for over a thousand years. The final part of the pilgrimage was to cross onto an even smaller island, where St Cuthbert lived as a hermit. We stood by the old wooden cross and said a final Our Father, our prayers joining with those of past pilgrims. And as I looked out at the sun setting behind the distant mainland, contemplating the long journey home, I realised how far, as a group, we all had come.” Bethanie
The challenge is to take the experience and continue to live the wisdom in our day to day lives: Accepting the goodness of others, living with what we need rather than being driven by what we want, recognising the presence of God in others and celebrating it.
Faithful Companions of Jesus 